County should find money to fund resource officers

A year ago, the presence of armed sheriff's deputies in the county schools might have seemed like a overreaching move, but the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. forever changed the way we all look at police presence in our schools.

In the days after the tragedy, Ross County Sheriff George Lavender asked county commissioners for the $12,000 it would take to fund two officers traveling to each school every weekday they are open. On any given day, at any given hour, they could be in any of the county schools. They don't have a set schedule or rotation. That way, no one knows what school they will be in, or at what time.

Commissioners agreed and the program was universally embraced by the schools and the educators. They also agreed to re-evaluate the program before the next school year. Last week, Lavender approached commissioners to fund the program for the upcoming school year and said, regardless of their decision, he will find the funds to continue the resource officer positions.

We think that's great, but encourage the commissioners to fund the proposal for another year, allowing Lavender to save some critical funds from his budget.

We'll agree there's no easy guarantee a police presence will prevent a tragic shooting, but the odds are much better when a deputy is present and we're not talking about officers in full combat gear brandishing rifles or sidearm. While students and teachers largely see the deputy presence as a peacekeeper role, it's good to know that if a deputy is needed to help stop a major incident at a local school, they have a good chance to help by merely being there. There's the added benefit of having a security expert on hand to point out areas of improvement, helping students to be at ease around police officers and. maybe, inspiring students to become active in law enforcement as a career.

The bottom line is that armed police officers will help schools be safer, just as they do in airports, courthouses, banks and other public buildings across the country and world. The educators want the program to continue. Most parents and children want the program to continue. It should continue.

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County should find money to fund resource officers

A year ago, the presence of armed sheriff's deputies in the county schools might have seemed like a overreaching move, but the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. forever changed the